Roasted Fennel Recipe (Easy & Caramelized!) - Wholesome Yum (2024)

FAQs

Why do chefs use fennel so much? ›

Though often overlooked by home cooks, this versatile ingredient is beloved by chefs for its pleasantly sweet, fresh flavor and mild aromatic character.

We love it both ways! Roasted fennel has a buttery, caramelized flavor with very mild licorice notes while raw fennel provides a crunch and sweet, stronger licorice flavor like in our Easy Fennel Salad. We also love a sautéed version such as in our Spicy Gnocchi with Fennel and Mushrooms.

The heat caramelizes its edges, turning it from crunchy to meltingly tender in less than 30 minutes. Plus, the licorice flavor dominant in raw fennel is tamed in the oven, turning this often underused vegetable sweet and mellow.

Fennel has a very mild anise or licorice flavor that can be enhanced or sweetened depending on how it is cooked (or not cooked). When diced and sauteed with onions as one of the first steps when making a soup or stew, fennel becomes very sweet.

There isn't enough reliable information to know whether fennel is safe when used long-term. Although rare, side effects might include stomach upset and seizures. When applied to the skin: Fennel is possibly safe. Fennel can make skin extra sensitive to the sun and make it easier to get a sunburn.

Fennel contains many antioxidant compounds including rosmarinic acid, chlorogenic acid, quercetin, and apigenin. Antioxidants can help fight cell damage from free radicals and reduce your risk of many chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

Thanks to anethole, one of the essential oils contained in the vegetable, fennel has the ability to counteract the formation of intestinal gas and relieve abdominal contractions and cramps, aerophagy and flatulence. This property of fennel, called carminative, is well known.

Technically speaking, all parts of the plant are edible, but most people will find the stalks too tough and fibrous to eat. The leaves can be chopped and used to flavor salads, dressings, marinades and sauces. They tend to have a slightly more citrusy flavor than the base. The base (or bulb) is delicious raw or cooked.

Meat: Fennel pairs well with meats such as pork, sausage, and chicken. Seafood: Fennel pairs well with seafood such as salmon, cod, and shrimp. Spices: Fennel pairs well with spices such as black pepper, cumin, and coriander.

Apples, beetroot, Brussels sprouts, celeriac, corn, cucumber, garlic, grape, grapefruit, green bean, guava, kohlrabi, lemon, mushroom, olive, orange, peach, pear, pomegranate, potatoes, tomatoes, watercress, watermelon.

What is the best way to eat fennel? ›

Eaten raw, fennel works particularly well with fish and pork. It can be oven-baked to add complexity to roast vegies. Sautéed fennel is a great side dish and adding raw slices to a fresh salad will add a sharp bite and crunch to the mix.

By consuming the infused water first thing in the morning, you might be able to relieve bloating, improve good digestion, and ease indigestion. Hydration: Fennel seeds can release some of their nutrients into water by being soaked in it, making the water more delicious and hydrating than plain water.

If you're not using the sliced fennel right away, store it in the fridge in a closed container, submerged in water (with a squeeze of lemon). This will help keep the fennel crispy and crunchy. Shaved fennel is a wonderful anchor to any shaved salad or slaw.

If you're especially sensitive to licorice flavor, you may even find raw fennel to be too pungent for your tastes. To tone down the flavor, Chowhound suggests slicing or chopping fennel and soaking it in water for half an hour.

Trans-anethole, an ingredient of fennel volatile oil known to exhibit efficacy on appetite control is structurally similar to catecholamine, and acts similarly to amphetamine with respect to appetite control.

Many cultures in India, Afghanistan, Iran, and the Middle East use fennel fruits in cooking. In Iraq, fennel seeds are used as an ingredient in nigella-flavored breads. It is one of the most important spices in Kashmiri cuisine and Gujarati cooking.

Italians often eat this at the end of a meal to cleanse the palate. The bulb can be sliced up and used in salads for an extra depth of flavor you never knew was missing – especially with mandarin oranges, balsamic and salt!

Side effects of Fennel include: difficulty breathing. tightness of chest/throat. chest pain.